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Peppers in Oil bats aren’t red hot
By Dan Hiner
Niles
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers changed their named to the Peppers in Oil for Saturday’s game against the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Things got spicier than a chili pepper early in the Scrappers’ 5-3 loss in a three-game series opener at Eastwood Field.
Hudson Valley stater Daiveyon Whittle struck out Henderson De Oleo to end the bottom of the second inning. As Whittle walked back to the dugout, De Oleo started walking down the third-base line.
The two got into a shouting match, and De Oleo took off his helmet and swung at Whittle just in front of home plate. The benches and bullpen quickly cleared, but the umpires and coaching staff got everyone off the field.
Whittle and De Oleo were ejected.
“[Whittle] was trying to work quick, as fast as he could,” Scrappers manager Dennis Malave said. “[De Oleo] went in the box and he wasn’t 100 percent ready to hit, so he called timeout, which’s what he’s supposed to do.
“Their pitcher got a little out of control, their emotions got in the way and we all know what happened.”
Whittle pitched two hitless innings before his ejection. He has pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings, and left the game with a 0.41 ERA in games this season.
Chris Gau (1-3) entered in relief of Whittle to start the third. He allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three in 41/3 innings.
Eric Rodriguez replaced De Oleo as the designated hitter. His single between shortstop and third in the fifth inning was the Scrappers’ (14-15) first hit of the game.
Liam Jenkins (0-3) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk. The right-hander struck out two in five innings.
The Renegades (16-12) struck first in the top of the third.
KV Edwards hit a triple, which fell in between center fielder Pedro Alfonseca and left fielder Korey Holland on the warning track. Garrett Hiott followed with an RBI single to center field.
Beau Brundage hit a one-out triple down the right-field line in the fourth. Right fielder George Valera raised his arms, signaling that the ball rolled under the tarp in foul territory.
However, the umpires didn’t stop play and Brundage advanced to third. He scored on Luis Trevino’s RBI double to center field in the next at-bat.
“It’s kinda hard to see from our dugout,” Malave said. “Valera did a good job playing the ball and the umpire thought it was a ball that was still in play. And at that point, that’s the umpire’s discretion.”
Mason Mallard reached on an error by Henry Pujols in the seventh. Edwards hit a ball straight into the dirt, which carried over Pujols’ head into left field, for another run.
Valera hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the season, over the right-center field wall in the seventh to cut the lead to 3-2.
However, Brundage hit a two-run shot of his own to right field to extend the lead in the eighth, and push the game out of reach.
Bryan Lavastida scored on an RBI groundout from Ray Delgado in the ninth. But Michael Cooper flew out to left field with Valera on third to end the game.
Hector Figueroa allowed one run on one hit and a walk, striking out three. He pitched the final 22/3 innings for his fourth save of the season.
The Scrappers have lost five of their last six games. They only managed four hits on Saturday
“I like the way our guys played today,” Malave said. “Even though we didn’t hit much, we played the game the right way. This is a game that’s probably gonna set a theme in how we’re gonna continue to compete every single game. And I think our guys competed the whole game. All the way until the last pitch.
“They made some good plays on their side. We made some good plays on our side. It was a really good game for both teams.”